Tropical storm Ida grounds dozens of flights at US airports

Flights at several airports on the US Gulf Coast were cancelled or disrupted over the weekend with many remaining cancelled on Monday as Hurricane Ida made landfall in Louisiana but weakened into a tropical storm as it moved to Mississippi, nevertheless bringing with it destructive winds and heavy flooding that left more than 100,000 people without power.

New Orleans Int’l was the worst affected with all flights cancelled from late on Saturday, August 28, through to the whole of Monday, August 30, according to FlightRadar24 ADS-B data. The airport on Monday was conducting damage assessments and said it expected all flights to remain cancelled on that day. So far New Orleans’ Airport has had 118 flights cancelled. The airport added that passengers should check directly with their airlines for more information.

Flights to at least 38 destinations were cancelled, including Dallas/Fort Worth, Dallas Love Field, Atlanta Hartsfield Jackson, Orlando Int’l, Fort Lauderdale Int’l, Chicago O’Hare, Los Angeles Int’l, Denver Int’l, Las Vegas McCarran, Philadelphia Int’l, Washington National, Washington Dulles, Houston Intc’l, Charlotte Int’l, Boston, Tulsa Int’l, Miami Int’l, Seattle Tacoma Int’l, New York JFK, New York Newark, New York La Guardia, Houston Hobby, Austin Bergstrom Int’l, Richmond Int’l, VA, Salt Lake City, Phoenix Sky Harbor, Cincinnati Int’l, Charleston, SC, Baltimore Thurgood Marshall, Fayetteville/Springdale, Louisville Int’l, Norfolk Int’l, VA, St. Louis Lambert Int’l, Chicago Midway, Orlando Int’l, Tampa Int’l, Cleveland Hopkins, and Nashville Int’l, Flightradar24 ADS-B data showed.

Airlines which were forced to ground their flights included Spirit Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines and Delta Connection, Southwest Airlines; JetBlue Airways, United Airlines and United Express; Breeze Airways, Alaska Airlines, and Allegiant Air.

Most flights at Baton Rouge, Gulfport, Jackson Evers Int’l, MS, Lake Charles Regional, Mobile Regional, Lafayette, LA, Pensacola Gulf Coast Regional, Alexandria, LA, were also cancelled on Sunday and many remained grounded on Monday. Additional destinations affected from these airports included Montgomery Dannelly Reg., Muscle Shoals, Milwaukee General Mitchell, and Kansas City Int’l, according to Flightradar24 ADS B-data.

American, Delta, and United between them had issued travel alerts for between nine to 14 airports in Alabama, Florida, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Texas, also including Shreveport Regional and Monroe Regional which remained relatively unaffected, and Destin-Fort Walton Beach, Gulfport, and Hattiesburg/Laurel. United, JetBlue, and Spirit in travel alerts offered change fee and different fare waivers for the rebooking of flights.

Forecasters warned that heavy rainfall was possible through Tuesday across southeastern Louisiana, coastal Mississippi, and southwestern Alabama. Flooding is also expected in portions of the Tennessee and Ohio valleys and the Mid-Atlantic through Wednesday, according to the National Hurricane Center. Ida hit on the 16-year anniversary of Katrina, a Category 3 hurricane that ravaged the Gulf Coast.

Meanwhile, Tropical Storm Nora continues to lash Mexico’s Pacific coast with torrential rains and heavy winds, a day after causing floods and landslides that killed at least one person when a hotel partially collapsed in the town of Puerto Vallarta. Nora had been downgraded from a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale to a tropical storm on Sunday afternoon, reported Aljazeera.

Flights to San José Cabo by JetBlue, Alaska Airlines, and Spirit Airlines have been affected, prompting travel alerts by the airlines that rebooking fees would be waived. Alaska Airlines also announced flexible rebooking rules on cancelled flights to Manzanillo Int’l, Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlán, Loreto, and Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo.